Embarrassment
by Skye
Summary: Things get awkward between Lizzie and Reggie, and Lizzie's not going to sit still for it. Reggie/Lizzie


**Embarrassment**

In the past, Lizzie thought she should be embarrassed to be out in public. After all, she was different. Someone to be pitied and stared at. Not a complete person somehow.

Luckily she'd dropped that attitude fast, picking up a much rougher one. Lizzie knew she was just as much of a person as anyone else, after all, everyone had their own little differences. If people wanted to stare, let them stare. They'd get over it soon, she wasn't _that_ weird. And if they were going to bring up stereotypes or otherwise be stupid about it, then they could be the ones embarrassed for themselves when they got to know her.

That was the way it was at first for Ms. Reggie Rocket. The girl was so nervous she was trembling when they had first met. She soon showed her biases, letting Lizzie win in a race. Did she think that Lizzie couldn't ever win for herself? Lizzie hated the attitude of "Careful! Careful around her!" as if the prosthetic leg was made of porcelain instead of metal. She wasn't going to let anyone think she needed a favor when it came to competing.

Though Lizzie was annoyed, she stuck by her philosophy of letting them feel awkward instead of her. And surprisingly, Reggie straightened herself out on the subject. Reggie came by personally with a copy of her zine, with an article on Lizzie, biases removed, well, for the most part. And later they'd met on the mountain and off many times and raced again and again, without Reggie doing anything stupid like throwing the race. After time, they both became completely comfortable around each other.

Until Lizzie found herself feeling strange around Reggie. Blushing when offered small tokens of affection, like a soda, or worse, a pat on the back or a high five. Lizzie found herself becoming to distracted to the point where Reggie would joking ask, "What's with you today?" That embarrassed her, and she didn't like that feeling at all.

What was it about Reggie that made Lizzie feel so unlike herself? She was just some loud tomboy. Not that she wasn't fun to be around. And despite the whole tomboy thing, she was really very pretty. She was also incredibly nice to Lizzie. Affectionate, almost. It could be mistaken for flirting, maybe.

No, Lizzie decided with a frustrated sigh. That was just what she wished it was like. Reggie was probably like that with everyone, and would grow out of her tomboy stage, and start becoming like any other girl with the silly swooning over guys. From her friends' teasing, Lizzie could guess that may have even already begun. So Reggie would become normal, and Lizzie would just be doomed to embarrassment.

But why should that be? Lizzie had learned not to keep her embarrassment inside, buried. Sometimes it was better to just let come out, and maybe give someone else a turn to feel that way.

"I'm bored," Reggie said one day as they hung out in a cabin. "Why don't we do what we came here to do?" she asked her usual companions. "Let's race!"

"Only if you don't mind losing!" her brother Otto agreed.

"Yeah, Otto's gotten way better," her friend Twister added.

"Uh huh, whatever," Reggie said with a monotone voice. Lizzie rolled her eyes, then saw Reggie smile at her. "How about it, Lizzie? You up for it?"

"You know it," Lizzie said.

As a group, they rode to the top of the slope. Once they had gotten off the ski-lift, Lizzie pretended to need to pause. "Hey, wait up for me, Reggie," she said, and leaned down as if to tie her shoe.

"Sure, is everything okay?" Reggie asked as her friends went ahead of them.

"Yeah, I just needed to do something before we raced," Lizzie said. She moved ahead,closer to Reggie, then before Reggie could wonder why her personal space was invaded, surprised her with a stealthy kiss on her lips. There was no mistaking Lizzie's intentions, especially with her satisfied smirk after the fact. _There,_ Lizzie thought to herself, looking at Reggie's surprised face. Now it was all out in the open, and Reggie could be the bumbling awkward one instead of her. "That's all! I'm ready now!" Lizzie said, feeling free and refreshed. "Let's go!"

"Wait," Reggie said. Before Lizzie could advance to catch up with the others, Reggie pulled her back. "It's not all, well, I don't want it to be all, um, well," Reggie paused, and then began kissing her again, this time for much longer. Lizzie felt even more elated, it was almost dreamlike. Sure enough, Reggie wasn't like all the other girls, and her flirting had been actual flirting. When they stopped, Reggie looked around. Though her friends were long ahead, the rest of the mountain wasn't exactly abandoned. People were staring, and Lizzie could see the embarrassment written on Reggie's face.

"You know what? They can look all they want," Lizzie said, putting her arm around Reggie as they walked forward. Lizzie was pleased to see her attitude was contagious, seeing Reggie smirked at her, and also confidently walking forward.


End file.
